Bonzer Words!: What Do I Know?
Colin Fisher assesses how he knows what he knows.
We all need to know many things in order to function in everyday situations. For example, I need to know how to find my way home. I need to know the physical appearance of my close associates. I need to know how to drive a car. I need to know that most persons are sleeping after midnight and are likely to be awake after about eight in the morning.
How do I decide what I 'know,' often rather unconsciously? I believe that I prioritize what I think I know in accordance with the source of the information. My personal priority system comes from experience and has been mostly applied unconsciously.
Here is a list of most of my sources of information, in descending order knowledge accuracy:
1. I know what I experience
2. I know what is produced by the scientific method
3. I know what a trusted acquaintance tells me
4. I know what scholars say about history
5. I know what is presented in the media
6. I know what a majority of observers hold to be true
7. I know what the faithful believe
Experience
Things that come into my consciousness directly from my own senses and thoughts are given my highest priority for things that I know. I assign a very high priority to experience.
The Scientific Method
I have great respect for information produced by the scholarly scientific method. This information is usually organized in accordance with some theory or systematic approach, based upon experimental observation, published in a reputable, scientific journal, subject to review by the author's peers and independently confirmed by experimental measurement conducted by other qualified workers.
Trusted Acquaintance
When a friend that I believe to have integrity as well as the experience and intellectual capacity to be quite likely to be telling me what they know, I believe what I am told.
History
Much of ancient history has no written record that has survived from the time when the events occurred. The stories usually come to us from oral tradition and may have been hundreds or thousands of years old before the histories were written. Additionally, it is well known that storytellers embellish their stories to make them more entertaining to their listeners. On the other hand, societies that treasured record keeping, like that of the Romans, have left records that are most likely quite accurate. Also consider that historians tend to put a particular 'spin' on histories that are presented in textbooks or in publications such as magazine articles. This whole area of history should be taken with a grain of salt until the basis for the reports can be understood and evaluated.
The Media
The media includes newspapers, magazines, television, radio and associated web pages. I also include publications by established corporations and institutions, such as universities, charities, governments, major manufacturers, etc. I have skepticism concerning things appearing in the media. Over the years I occasionally have been closely associated with an event that eventually became a news story reported in the press. Without exception, I have always found one or more major errors of fact in these articles. This makes me suspicious of the accuracy of the details of all media information.
Majority Opinion
When a large fraction of people believes something to be true I am forced to strongly consider it and, in the absence of other information, accept it. I am uncomfortable with this approach. It is important to look at the group of people who are making a claim and judge them as you would judge an individual.
One thing that I know that falls into this category is my own mortality. This single item I rank as highly as I do the experiential.
Faith
My religious faith, or someone else's, is a questionable basis for knowledge. Much of religious faith is based upon the interpretation of ancient books that are of questionable factual value, particularly in the details. Often the clergy feed the faithful with their interpretation of this information, making it conform to overall doctrine. Many fundamentalist religions have ignored or demeaned overwhelming, scientific evidence that has accumulated since the early church(es) was(were) organized, and that would modify the writings upon which faith is based. Frequently, persons making statements of religious faith are strongly and emotionally committed to their statements, making objective discussion nearly impossible.
© Colin Fisher
**
Colin writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
